Challenges Still Exist in Improving Quality and Reducing Disparities
While the 2014 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) demonstrates that the nation has made clear progress in improving the healthcare delivery system to achieve the three aims of better care, smarter spending and healthier people, challenges still exist.
Few disparities were eliminated.
- People in poor households generally experienced less access and poorer quality.
- Parallel gains in access and quality across groups causing persistence of most disparities.
- At the same time, several racial and ethnic disparities in rates of adverse events associated with procedures were eliminated, showing that elimination is possible.
Many challenges remain.
- Performance on many measures of quality remains far from optimal.
– Only half of people with high blood pressure have it controlled.
– On average, across a broad range of measures, recommended care is delivered only 70 percent of the time. - As noted above, disparities in quality and outcomes by income and race and ethnicity are large and persistent, and were not, through 2012, improving substantially.
- Some disparities related to hospice care and chronic disease management grew larger.
- Data and measures need to be improved to provide more complete assessments of two NQS priorities, Care Coordination and Care Affordability, and of disparities among smaller groups.
atom Alliance is dedicated to working with healthcare providers to improve quality of care and reduce disparities. The Alliance is especially focused on reducing disparities in the areas of cardiac health, diabetes care and adult immunizations. Learn more at www.atomalliance.org.
AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Report
Preview: AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Report
